


You Sound Like A Song

by Anelectrifyinglove



Category: Barry Allen/Iris West - Fandom, The Flash (TV 2014), westallen
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Angst with a Happy Ending, Barry Isn't the Flash, Bullying, Child Abuse, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2019-01-06 21:36:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12219402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anelectrifyinglove/pseuds/Anelectrifyinglove
Summary: The aftermath of Barry's father getting sent to jail for the murder of his mother leads him to be sent to live with his aunt Lacey (oc) who hates anyone under the age of 18 and blames Barry for the death of her sister. Barry's life is a living hell and he doesn't know how much longer he can survive on this earth with his current conditions, that is until he meets a new girl with what seems to be genuine intentions. But at this point is Barry too far gone? Will she be able to help Barry get through these hard times?





	You Sound Like A Song

**Author's Note:**

> We all have song obsessions and for me I was obsessed with "When We Were Young" by Adele, one line in particular stuck with me and I thought it would be a fantastic fanfic title, so here it is, "You Sound Like a Song".

That night haunts me every second of every day. It was now 5 years later, but I can still recall everything in clear detail, as if it happened last night. I remember my beautiful mother lying in a pool of her own blood, so limp, so lifeless. Everything was like a zoomed out blur, the only clear image was of my mother lying on the floor, dead. I was paralyzed, too scared to move, too scared to believe that any of this real was, that it was really happening. My mother, my best-friend, was really gone. We’ll never have those mother-son bonding days of getting ice-cream and going to the science museum ever again. I’ll never get to hear her warm voice, soothing me to sleep as she reads me a bed-time story. My mother was no longer a person, she was now a memory. My father on the other hand he’s still alive, but was charged with the murder of my mother. I don’t go visit him in jail, the pain would be too much for me to handle, even now. 

I was in bed when I heard a disturbance downstairs, naturally as a curious 11 year old I went to see what was going on, big mistake on my part. The first thing I saw was my father shouting at nothing and then proceed to sob over my mothers body. His head quickly turned to where I was standing and his face grew pale, scared. “Barry, go back upstairs and go to sleep, you don’t need to see this”. I could see that my mother was on the floor and immediately my body was filled with fear. ‘Wha… mom?’ That was all my meek voice could muster. As I moved closer and got a better view of my mother my sight was getting blurred by the steady stream of tears. “Son please, just go back upstairs”. The urgency in his voice alarmed me, i’d never seen my dad like that before. Before I could ask him what happened the police busted down our door and tackled my dad to the floor before handcuffing him, that was the last I had seen my father.

Today my life pretty much sucks. Everyday is a living hell. The day after my mother’s funeral I was sent to live with my mothers sister, Lacey. In a nutshell Lacey hates anyone under the age of 18 which she considers a child. In retrospect Lacey is a very successful reporter, she’s well known and liked amongst her field and others. To the outside world Lacey is a fantastic woman, but its a totally different story behind closed doors - where her true colors come out. Lacey frequently throws parties to keep up her façade, during the parties she locks me up in my room and I'm forbidden to come out, not like I’d want to be around the people she associates with anyway. The plus side is my aunt lives in a huge house, practically a mansion so we can easily stay out of each others way. I’d just like for one day to not feel as if i’m a burden to everyone and not hate myself. School is a constant reminder that no one likes “Barry Allen present psychopath, future killer” that’s what they call me - high school students aren’t very clever. As much as I hate to admit it, the constant bullying does get to me, everywhere I go people shout killer at me, they push me around and treat me like garbage, its getting to a point where I can’t take it anymore. I have no friends that I can confide in, you’d think people would feel sorry for the kid that lost both his parents instead of bullying him. The bullying at school, and then coming home to an unwelcome environment, its a constant cycle that I can’t shake. I need a release. Nowadays that release is science. I love everything about science from the formulas to the theories and the undiscovered. I drown myself in books that keep me learning and focused. My drive to go to college and get out of this town to be a forensics scientist is what keeps me going. But that drive can only do so much and take me so far. Every night since my mothers death I have cried myself to sleep while looking at a picture of her, those are the moments when I feel the most alone. Loneliness is something I’ve gotten used to in the last 5 years. When your mother is killed and your father is arrested for the murder no one is exactly willing or comfortable with being your friend. Sometimes I have thoughts of taking my own life but I don’t have the guts to do it, and I can just imagine how disappointed my mother would be. I try to be strong but at the end of the day i’m that scared and weak little boy I was 5 years ago, I will always be that scared and weak little boy. Its a reality that I can't escape. 

I like to spend my days at the library, it has all the books I could possibly read on science, free wifi, and it has become a sort of safe haven for me in the last 2 years or so. At the library I can escape the life that I have and I can just feel at peace for a while, its practically my second home. If it were up to me I would live at the library, Lacey wouldn’t even notice. But you don’t always get what you want in life so for now I have to put up with all the abuse, Lacey and her god awful parties. I just have to take it one day at a time.

 

********  
In the morning I get to school early, mainly to avoid having to see Lacey as she gets ready for work, but also to mentally prepare myself for the day. I sit in my first period and read until the students start filing in, thats when I usually start to shrink towards the back of the room to become as unnoticeable as possible - it never works. 

“Killer, how was your weekend”? 

Let the tormenting begin. Harrison Wells gives me the most problems, has since I was 10, the death of my mother just fueled him more. “Fine”. I mutter with annoyance apparent in my voice. “Hey no need to get hostile, i’m just being friendly”. Harrison carries an aura of pretentiousness, yet somehow he is constantly surrounded by people that practically beg to be in his presence. “Just leave me alone”. I tried walking away from Harrison but he quickly pushed me to the ground and pulled my hands behind my back, sitting on them, the pain was so immense that my eyes started tearing up. “Watch who the fuck you’re talking to, before you end up like your mother”. He got up but before leaving the room he swiftly kicked me a few times to the ribs. The bruises I have accumulated over the past months are so abundant that I stopped counting them and keeping track, yet the pain still lingers. I try getting up but volts of pain are sent through my entire body preventing me from doing so. The pain is immense and I can’t help but lay on the floor crying. I start imaging if my mother felt like this, in pain, on the floor, dying. I’m not dying but right now I wish I was, every day is like this and I hate it, I hate everything. I need to get up and pretend like everything is ok before my teacher gets here, she wouldn't care anyways, no one does. That’s what hurts the most, not having anyone that cares about me, everyone treats me like I'm either trash or a monster, the loneliness is unbearable at times. Eventually I muster up the strength to get up, but instead of staying in the classroom I limp my way to the janitors closet in the far end side of the school where there’s barely any people. This is my safe haven at school, no one knows about it and its the only place at school I feel safe and I can have some peace. 

Over the last couple of semesters I have really personalized the place, I have tons of books I borrowed from the library, and even some pillows and a blanket. I keep some pills and bandages in here as well, for those times that I need them - like now. As I lift up my shirt to inspect any bruises I may have, I grab a couple of pills and a bottle of water I put in here a couple days ago. After taking the pills I lay down on the makeshift bed I made and I start falling asleep, this day is already starting out terribly - as per usual. Sleep is another great escape that I like to relish in, and right now I need it. I drift off to sleep, thinking of my mother.

********  
The loud, excited last bell of the day chatter from the students in the hallway outside of the janitors closet is what awakes me from my sleep. I always wait until the chatter has completely died down to know its safe to come out. In the meantime I check again on my bruise and it looks purple, on the bright side it only hurts when I move. I check my watch to see that its only 2:25, I should be safe to come out at around 2:30. My phone beeps and I immediately know its probably an angry text message from Lacey, she’s the only person that texts me. I look at my phone and the screen reads ‘Lacey: Party tonight. Come home ASAP. STAY IN YOUR ROOM!!’. I really don’t understand why she makes me stay in my room all night when I could just stay at the library, but I don’t dare disobey Lacey, she can be quite scary. The chatter is completely gone and I know its safe to leave, I quickly leave the janitors closet so I can get home. It’s too late to take the school bus and although Lacey’s house is too far to walk with my injuries, its the only option I have left. 30 minutes later and I finally arrive home. Lacey isn’t anywhere to be seen as I wander through the house, eventually ending up in the kitchen to get an after school snack. “Where have you been?”. The unexpected chill of Lacey’s voice caused me to jump and shut the refrigerator before grabbing anything. “I had to walk home, missed the bus”. I tried to stand up straight and hide the pain and uncomfortableness I was feeling. “Whatever, just stay in your room tonight I’m having a party, make sure you take food to your room in case you get hungry, I don’t need a bruised dirty teenage boy wandering through the house during my party, got it?” She was clearly irritated at my mere presence and I did not want to upset her. “Got it”. At my response she quickly turned on her heels and went to boss around the staff she hired to set the party up and make sure things went smoothly. After getting any snacks that I thought I would need I hurried to my room and locked the door. I lay back in bed, close my eyes and put on my headphones to drown out the world around me. 

A couple of hours must have passed because when I eventually open my eyes I hear the loud small talk of a ton of people outside, although my room is quite far from where they gather the amount of people amplify the noise so that it travels easily to my room. Over the years i’ve never once been allowed to attend the parties but I’ve grown to familiarize myself with some of the voices of the people and I have my own image of them in my head. There’s Mr. Stewarts, without a doubt he is always the loudest, I picture him as an old fat man that likes to come to the parties just for the food and tell jokes to pretty young girls. Mrs. Riley sounds like the typical rich stuck up middle aged white female that only comes to show off her wealth amongst her peers. Tonight I hear a couple new voices, I don’t recognize them at all, must be their first time at one of Laceys’ infamous parties. From the sound of the voices one seems to be an older African American male, and the other I can’t quite put my finger on, she just sounds very sweet. I absolutely dread Lacey’s parties, her house is filled with people yet I am still very isolated and lonely. Usually during the party I take this time to let out all of my frustrations and sadness since its so loud that no one would hear me. I sit in front of my bedroom door and clutch the picture of my mother that I keep on my bedside table. The tears start quick and easy, like always. I start thinking of how happy I was before my life turned completely upside down, I was a happy kid with happy parents and an overall great life, I will never be that happy again. 

“Are you okay?” I am immediately startled as I hear that same sweet voice from earlier. “Who are you?” I hesitantly ask, no one ever comes near my room during the parties, I thought it was an unspoken rule that everyone knew and agreed upon. “Just a guest, I was looking for the bathroom and I heard crying coming from this room”. As I could now hear the voice clearer I gathered that it was a girl probably around my age, which is odd considering that Lacey hates what she considers “kids” and would never invite one to her party. “The bathroom is the door at the very end of this hallway”. I could tell that the girl did not move from where she was standing. “Do you live here?” It took all the courage inside of me not to reply with a sarcastic answer, I didn’t want to be rude to the girl, she sounded very sweet. “Yes”, was all that I said, this was the first positive interaction I’ve had in years. I heard shuffling then I could feel pressure coming from the other side of the door, she had sat down. “How’s the floor feel?” I tried to lighten up the mood and deflect her from how she caught me seconds ago. “Better than how you’re feeling, why were you crying?” She didn’t sound conniving or like she was trying to milk me for information, just curious. “I wasn’t crying, you must’ve been hearing things.” I really did not feel like confiding in a stranger that would probably go run off and laugh about my problems with everyone later. “You can trust me, you seem like you need a friend, and I don’t bite I promise”. Her tone was very genuine but I still couldn't see myself trusting a total stranger, my trust has been completely demolished over the last 5 years.  
“I don’t even know your name”.  
“Its Iris, like the flower”.  
“Well its nice to meet you, Iris like the flower”. She lightly chuckled and I don’t think I've heard a sound as beautiful as that since my mother died, maybe in my life. I was starting to warm up to her, there was something very genuine and likable about her. “You have a nice laugh, Iris”. “Thank you… I still don’t know your name”. She chuckled again and I was really starting to get used to the sound, I could listen to it all day. “Are you sure you want to know, this is your last chance to turn back, go to the bathroom, and forget all about my existence”. Iris was silent for a while and for a second I thought she silently left until she softly spoke up, “I don’t think I could possibly turn back now, you intrigue me, I want to get to know you”. For a while I was quiet because I didn’t know what to say, no one had talked to me in a friendly way in years. There was a new feeling arising inside of me that I hadn’t felt before, honestly it scared me. “You still there?” I didn’t know exactly what was happening but I felt better just from this short interaction with a girl I just met 5 minutes ago. “Barry”.  
“Barry, I like it, I’ll call you bear for short”. I couldn’t see her, but I knew she had a huge smile on her face, the tone of her voice gave it away. The fact that Iris was smiling made me want to smile too, so I did, for the first time in a long time. The next couple of moments were spent in comfortable silence, neither one of us talked, yet it was the least lonely i’ve felt since my life changed for the worst. “This floor is definitely not comfortable, and I still have to use the bathroom, it was really nice meeting you Barry”. My heart sunk at her declaration of departure. “Same to you, Iris”. The pressure coming from her side of the door was lifted and I knew she had gotten up. “Sweet Dreams”, was the last thing she said to me. I immediately felt lonely again and I missed having someone like Iris to talk to. I remained seated on the floor replaying the conversation I just had with Iris, with a faint smile on my face. I never gave much thought to flowers before but I know now that Irises are my favorite.


End file.
